Being a lover of cooking and an avid reader, I am a huge collector of cookbooks. Every time, I am at the bookstore I always end up buying a cookbook with a good intention of cooking the recipes. I also have a large collection of magazines, cutouts from several other magazines, bookmarks on my computer and recipes clicked on my phone.

I made a promise to myself that though I may not stop doing any of the above, I will at least start cooking the recipes from the books I own. I hope in this exercise, I learn new recipes and flavours, new techniques, share my successes & mistakes with you and learn a lot through this journey.

Today’s recipe is “Kokum Soup” from the book “Ayurvedic Cooking” from a well renowed ayurvedic practitioner Dr. Vasant Lad.

Kokum, commonly known as “Sola” in Konkani are dried sun dried peels of Garcinia indica fruit, which belongs to the mangosteen family. The outer covering of the fruit is dried in the sun and used as a souring agent, an alternative to tamarind in Goan cusine. “Sol Kadi” and “Futi kadi/tamdi kadi/ Tival” are two dishes that I grew up eating during my childhood at the end of every meal as it is a good digestive.

Kokum Soup (adapted from the “Ayurvedic Cooking” book)

Ingredients:

10 dried Kokum fruits

3 cups water

2 tbspns ghee

1/2 tspn cumin seeds

1/4 tspn mustard seeds

1 tbspn fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

sprig of fresh curry leaves

2 tbspns besan or chickpea flour

1/4 tspn chilli powder/black pepper powder

1/2 tspn salt or to taste

1 tbspn jaggery

Pinch of asafoetida

Directions:

Soak the dried kokum fruits in 1 cup of hot water for about 30 minutes.

Squeeze the fruit into this water several times and then strain.

Add 2 tbspns of besan to this water very well, ensuring there are no lumps.

The winter in Toronto, this year is very cold and frigid. To me, winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is time for home and time for a hot drink like the ‘Badam Milk’ – an Indian version of Almond milk.

Almonds known in Sanskrit as ‘vatāda’ and in Hindi as ‘Badam’ is actually the seed of the fruit of the almond tree and like other fruits like peach, cherry and apricot bears fruits with stone like seed inside. The seed of the fruit is what we call nuts.

Apart from having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, almonds are among the richest sources of vitamin E in the diet. Vitamin E is known to reduce our risk of Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancers and also protects cells from oxidative damage. Ayurveda uses almonds as a brain tonic, for physical weakness, to improve quality of sleep, to treat nerve disorders and to tone up all the tissues of your body especially reproductive ones.

**Always soak any nuts or seeds for at least 6-8 hours before using them. Soaking helps the nuts/seeds release the harmful enzymes that cause indigestion and also increases their nutritional content.

The Badam milk recipe comes from the Sanjeev Kapoor Khazana cooking show by Chef Rajeev Sethi and it is delicious!!

Badam Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

Milk mixture

½ cup almonds

2.5 cups full fat milk (preferable unhomogenized)

1/8 tsp saffron

¼ – 3/8 cup sugar or as per taste

To powder :

20 almonds, raw, unsalted

30 pistachios, raw, unsalted

2o cashews, raw, unsalted

¼ tsp Saffron

½ piece of Mace

½ tsp Cardamom

½ tsp Turmeric powder

1 tablespoon organic Rose flower petals (dried) – optional

Method:

Soak the almonds in water for about 6-8 hours. Drain off the water, rinse the almonds thoroughly, and peel the skins.

Grind the almonds to a fine paste with a little water.

Bring the milk to a boil. Keep stirring so that it does not burn at the bottom.

Add the almond paste and continue to keep stirring until it is reduced and thickened a little.

Finely powder all the ingredients in the ‘To powder’. Set aside.

Add the sugar and the 2 tablespoons of the powdered nut mixture to the milk.

Continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved and then switch off the flame.

Have you tried Ghee? The Sanskrit word for Ghee is Ghrita – घृत (ghṛta, “sprinkled”). Ghee is considered sacred and as a superfood in Ayurveda. It is also known as ‘Golden Nectar’ due to their wonderful healing properties. Ghee can be kept at room temperature and has a long shelf life. The more aged the ghee, the more beneficial to the body. I love the intoxicating aroma and taste of freshly made Ghee. Just a teaspoon of ghee is any dish is so comforting.

Consuming a teaspoon of ghee will improve your digestion and also heal inflammation in the GI tract. It is also a good source of fat for our nervous cells and helps in preventing Alzheimer’s , Parkinson’s and Dimentia. It has both anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Experts say that if your cholesterol is within normal range, then you can consume a tsp of ghee with each meal. It is packed with fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K.

To reap the benefits of ghee, it is important to prepare it with butter from a good quality raw, free-range, grass-fed whole Cow’s milk. People in India make ghee from both Cow and Buffalo milk. How would you know the difference? Ghee prepared from Cow’s milk is yellow and Buffalo milk is white.

Growing up, my mom always prepared Ghee at home. She would collect the cream that settles on top of whole milk and keep the cream refrigerated in a container. When she have enough to prepare the butter, she would add a couple of tablespoons of curd to the cream and let it ferment overnight. After the cream has turned sour, it was then add it to a container along with some water and churned by hand. Once the butter separated, she would use it to prepare ghee. Nowadays Ghee is widely sold in stores under different brands. But the taste and texture of home made ghee is very hard to find in the store bought ones and also they are extremely pricey. Because of the ultra-pasteurization and homogenization processes of milk, it has become very difficult to find good quality cow’s milk and this affects the quality of butter that is produced from them. Since I do not have access to good free-range, grass fed milk, I prepare my ghee with organic butter.

Here’s what you will need to prepare Ghee:

Tools:

Heavy bottom pan

Fine mesh metal strainer

Clean, sterilized glass jars

Clean ladle or spoon

Ingredients:

1 pound Butter (unsalted organic or grass fed butter)

Preparation:

Place the butter in a heavy bottom saucepan or wok on medium heat and let it melt slowly.

Once it has melted, you will notice the milk solids floating on the surface . You can skim the milk solids, if you wish. But this is not necessary.

Reduce the heat a little and let it continue to boil. Once it starts bubbling, the water contents starts evaporating and the milk solids will settle at the bottom of the pan till it turns a golden brown colour. Make sure you are close to the pan as it can burn very easily.

Wait till it cools a little. Strain the ghee through a metal strainer into clean glass jars.

Note: Always store ghee at room temperature. Do not store it in the refrigerator as then the ghee turns into saturated fat. Use a clean and dry spoon while using the ghee as any moisture will cause it to go stale. You can safely consume ghee if you lactose intolerant as the milk solids have been removed.